Lee Found Guilty of Contempt of Court

May 19, 2004 at 9:26 PM CDT - Updated June 27 at 8:01 AM

Accused serial killer Derrick Todd Lee has now been found guilty of at least one thing in the South Louisiana serial killings case. A judge found Lee guilty of contempt of court, after an emotional outburst, where Lee cursed a witness. Lee's now sentenced to 30 days in West Baton Rouge Parish Prison and a $250 fine. WAFB's Jennifer explains what happened in the West Baton Rouge courtroom.

Police released a sketch out to the public in the summer of 2002 - almost a year before Derrick Todd Lee was ever officially named or accused of the South Louisiana serial killings. Diane Alexander put the sketch together. She says it looks just like the man who tried to rape and murder her July 9th, 2002. That's when a man fitting Lee's description allegedly came into Alexander's home, beat her and attempted to rape and murder her. Alexander's son came home and scared her attacker off. DNA backs Alexander's story up, connecting Lee to the crime.

As detectives were explaining how Alexander came up with the sketch, prosecutor Tony Clayton held it right next to Derrick Lee's face. That's when Lee snapped, yelling out quote "You lying s-o-b. I'm going to tell you to your face. You know you got that picture from somewhere else. Why don't you tell them where you got that picture?"

"Once you put evidence in front of this guy, he's going to react. Just to try and distract you from it. I wasn't surprised," says prosecutor Tony Clayton. "It's not the first time. He's always making comments and mumbling at the bench."

This drama all unfolded during a pretrial hearing concerning the murder of Geralyn De Soto. Prosecutors want to use evidence from both Diane Alexander and Dene' Colomb to help them prove their case against Lee. The attacks of all three women share similar circumstances, such as brutal beatings. But perhaps most importantly, separate DNA tests show the same man attacked all three women. Prosecutors say that evidence in particular, gives their case against Lee even more credibility. While forensic evidence links them together - the big difference is two victims died and one lived to tell her story.

Judge Robin Free is going to allow Diane Alexander to tell that story, when Lee stands trial for De Soto's death. He's also allowing the District Attorney's Office to introduce evidence from Dene' and several of Lee's previous stalking and peeping Tom convictions. Prosecutors say that is critically important to show how Lee allegedly progresses to killing.